“An undisclosed location. Dry land under a scorching sun. Something abominable has happened here in recent memory. Now a ritual is taking place. The remains of what was once human are flickering in darkness. Nature is reclaiming what is hers. She is savage and unforgiving. She is laughing at us. Her sinister laughter echoes in the emptiness.”

These are the opening lines of Ritual, an artwork that is positioned at the intersection of the digital and the physical. An ecosystem of chaotic inhabitants fuels this mediated landscape, digitally etched into a forgotten mining town situated in the California desert, populated by rapacious wild-eyed hyenas, adrenaline-fueled crows that skid through the sand on Bird™ scooters, and an ant colony that salvages M&Ms and other debris from the apocalyptic scene. Each character has been developed with its own primitive artificial intelligence by artist Theo Triantafyllidis and then placed inside this digitally tailored ominous panorama to live, roam, and construct its own story. At times, the protagonists can seem at peace with their surroundings; other moments produce humour or horror. The ecosystem is constantly producing new and unexpected outcomes from the terrain, and its peers are always questioning if this is documentation of an apocalyptic past or a coming future.

Ritual, 2020
Live simulation, custom software
Infinite duration
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Frens I, 2020
Edition of 10+2Aps
127 x 2 x 188 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Frens II, 2020
Edition of 10+2Aps
127 x 2 x 188 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens